My name is Kenneth Fisher and I am Senior DBA for a large (multi-national) insurance company. I have been working with databases for over 20 years starting with Clarion and Foxpro. I’ve been working with SQL Server for 12 years but have only really started “studying” the subject for the last 3. I don’t have any real "specialities" but I enjoy trouble shooting and teaching. Thus far I’ve earned by MCITP Database Administrator 2008, MCTS Database Administrator 2005, and MCTS Database Developer 2008. I’m currently studying for my MCITP Database Developer 2008 and should start in on the 2012 exams next year. My blog is at www.sqlstudies.com.

Archives: June 2014

One of the most powerful tools we have as users of SQL Server is Books Online (BOL). Whether you work mainly as an admin, a developer or in BI, Microsoft has provided a HUGE amount of information for you to use. But BOL is by no means your only resource…Read more

Every now and again you have to put a really long string (more than 8000 characters). Dynamic SQL is the most frequent example where I see this but I do see it elsewhere as well and it’s very easy to make a simple mistake. This is caused by the fact… Read more

Creating an alias for a SQL Server is fairly easy and there are several ways to do it. Configuration Manager is my personal favorite. Open up configuration manager and select the SQL Native Client xx Configuration. Under that you will find Aliases.

I frequently see the default trace mentioned in answers to forum questions, blog posts, articles, even training sessions. My knowledge of it after 15+ years with SQL Server unfortunately minimal. I know that it is a trace that is created by SQL automatically (hence the default) and that it is… Read more

A little while back Michael J Swart(B/T) offered to help you become a better writer. This was exciting for me because over the last 2 years (wow I’ve been doing this almost 2 years) I’ve been trying to get better at writing. However getting better… Read more